Problems In New York ?

July 28, 2009 · Paul Raymond · Jump to comments

Related Items

Quite a few of us have believed things with the New York Knicks are starting to get better. The off season has been a tough one but we believe it’s because the team is keeping the eye on the prize, the summer of 2010. It’s what we all want to believe, I mean really we’ve had no reason for hope in the past decade. While many, including myself, don’t think this summers failures will hurt us there is one person that thinks it will.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post believes the Knicks could be even worse in 2009-10. His reasoning is the lack of resigning Nate Robinson and David Lee. He admits they could still be back in Knicks uniforms next season, but till then the roster has had a drastic drop off in talent.

The Knicks have failed to sign any players this off season and the ones they did attempt to hire weren’t even that great. Their Plan A (Grant Hill and Jason Kidd) and Plan B (Ramon Sessions and Andre Miller) have all fallen through. He even believes there draft wasn’t as good as many have thought it was, especially after the Summer League performances by Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas.

So even if Lee and Robinson return, I am not sure how this team jumps from 32 wins to a playoff team. And that would be the minimum requirement to show the franchise is on the right path.

I kind of agree with that, the playoffs were the last thing I’d expect from the Knicks next season. All I am looking for is a little more improvement, enough to get the attention of some of the big free agents in next years class.

The more I look at Terranova’s article, the more I realize that the Knicks could have damaged their chances at landing a big free agent. Sure they’ve got the money but we’ve all been hearing how the star players want to be a part of a winning team.

Dwayne Wade has already made it known he’ll leave the Miami Heat if they don’t commit to winning. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been contenders in the Eastern Conference the past few years. Amare Stoudamire? Well minus last season he’s been in the playoffs quite a bit with the Phoenix Suns.

So you see many of these guys have played for winners and they’re going to want to go to a team that has a chance.

With the NBA Salary Cap dropping will the Knicks have the money for two of the marquee guys? They’ve got the money for one but will money alone be enough? Probably not.

So yea I see where Terranova thinks the Knicks may be worse. It’s not something I want to believe. It’s not something any Knicks fan wants to believe, but its true.

Donnie Walsh has put us in a great position cap wise, but this team still has a long way to go.

Feel free to follow us on TWITTER and/or subscribe to our RSS feed.